She just…didn’t fit.
There was something familiar about her, too.
That face…where did I know that face?
She didn’t spare me even a glance, her eyes resting on Casey with disdain stamped all over her features.
Something made me think she’d had a run-in with him before.
Part of me wanted to linger and study her a moment longer, how she cocked her head, the way the sun glinted off her pale hair. It wasn’t just my dick that was interested either, although that particular body part needed to shut the hell up.
Non-shifters were pretty much off-limits.
Where did I know her from?
The slow, shallow breathing from behind me grew more agitated, reminding me I had people waiting.
Annoyed, I looked away from her and focused on the job at hand.
My audience was waiting.
I moved to the door and took a moment to evaluate.
I didn’t open it.
Why bother?
They weren’t exactly waiting to great me with a friendly handshake.
I kicked it in.
As I strode in, I caught sight of one, two, three—fuck. Four men.
I reared back with the chain and let it fly.
* * * * *
It ended with two men dead, another with a leg that would have to grow back, while the fourth and I headed outside to have a little chat.
It was necessary to go outside.
I’d set the place on fire.
Not intentionally, but I hadn’t gone out of my way to avoid it either. Casey was staring at it with dumb shock as I hauled my catch out the door. It was a lynx shifter. I think his name might have been K’Von. I only remembered that because I’d made the mistake of calling him Kevin the first time I’d had dealings with him. Do you see an E in my name, dumbass?
The chain was looped around his neck and his face was battered, swollen.
Behind me, I could hear the other guy dragging himself out of the burning building, snarling and screaming, the sound rolling between human and not as he tried to hold onto his human form long enough to get out of the immediate danger posed by the fire. Once he shifted, he could probably heal his leg, but he’d be out for the count. At least he wasn’t a total idiot.
Unlike the two dead people currently cooking inside the store.
The audience outside had grown. No surprise. The blonde was still there. I couldn’t see her, but her scent…
Pushing it out of my mind, I focused on Casey as he started to swear.
He spun to face me and I dumped my burden on ground and crouched by his side.
He’d drawn a gun on me. That shit pisses me off. If you can’t fight like a shifter—
“You dumb piece of shit!”
I slanted a dark look at Casey. “You want to live to maybe own another run-down piece of shit store like this one? Don’t get in my face. You’re the one who decided to play with these dumbasses.”
He opened his mouth to argue.
I figured he needed a more…impressive warning.
Looking down at the man in front of me, I flexed a hand. One moment, it was human. The next, it was tipped with claws and fur sprouted. Raking the tips of those claws down the chest of the man who’d pulled the gun on me, I said, “Okay, sunshine. We need to talk.”
Casey had gone completely silent.
Not all shifters have the control to shift only one part of their bodies.
I’d never done a survey, but even most of the ones ranked highest among Annette’s lieutenants can’t do the more fine-tuned shifts like this. I’ve been told it’s freaky as hell.
Since I’ve always been able to, I don’t see why, but I take advantage of what’s in the arsenal.
As Casey slowly began to back away, I pressed harder on the skin of the man who’d planned on killing me. I felt nothing as his skin popped and blood welled under my claws.
“You ready for that talk?”
Chapter Five
The next morning, I strode up the sidewalk leading to the rec club.
I still smelled like smoke.
It was in my hair and we were out of shampoo. I’d restocked on groceries, but when I’d gone to shower that morning, the bottle had been nearly empty. I’d thought there were a couple of extra under the sink—I always kept extra on hand. When you had a nose as sensitive as mine, it was always good to stay stocked on hygiene needs. Throw in the fact that I had a teenaged boy in the house?
I practically had a pharmacy under my sink.
But there hadn’t been any shampoo and what little was left hadn’t been enough to get the smoke out.
As I approached the rec club, a couple of guards glanced my way before resuming their perusal of the street. Located on Bart Street in a neutral area of the East Orlando, this was one of the few places that was controlled by neither wolf nor cat.
Chang, the one man in Orlando I trusted, owned the club.
He’d set it up as a safe haven for the young. To him, it didn’t matter if the young were wolf, cat, witch…hell, he’d probably welcome human. Kids were kids in his eyes.
Me, I didn’t mind kids, either.
It was the adults I didn’t like.
This place had been set up as a club for kids and teenagers, but it was the most well defended place in all East Orlando, even more so than the Lair where the psychotic Queen of Cats held court.
I knew just how secure the rec club was—I’d help set up the defenses. I was one of three people who knew its secrets. None of those three included Annette, the so-called Alpha.
In an ironic twist of fate, the third person who knew of this building’s security was a man she’d consider her enemy—Alisdair MacDonald—the Alpha of the wolf pack.
As far as Annette was concerned, the wolves should be kissing her lily-white ass. The cats outnumbered the wolves, and after all, might made right and all that bullshit.
But Annette knew nothing of tactics or loyalty.
If it came to all-out war, half her people would flee and MacDonald could likely overthrow her.
It would be bloodshed on both sides but the man knew how to lead and he knew how to organize his people, how to earn their loyalty.
It was the fact that Dair MacDonald understood and valued loyalty that had convinced me that Chang was right to bring him in on this place. There should be a safe haven, one on neutral ground. Some place a kid could go if they were afraid of…anything.
The general idea had been Chang’s.
But we’d all worked together on it.
Now, as I started toward the hall, I brooded over just what I’d tell my best friend. Chang might well be my only friend, too. It was more than friendship or loyalty that bound us, though.
I trusted him implicitly.
He had saved my life and more than once.
And the man would never try to claim that debt, either.
It was because of that debt, though, that I’d listened when he’d come and talked to me about establishing a safe place for the young. At first, I’d been reluctant. Whenever there are concentrated groups of young, the threat increases. The young are always the most vulnerable.
That's where the monsters would focus their attention.
I’d pointed that out to him and Changi just smiled. "That's why we're going to need some place we can defend, Damon. Someplace strong. I assume you have a good idea of how to find such a place?"
That had been three years ago and we had just finished eight months back. The first couple of months, there had only been a scattering of youth from the cat clan and then bit by bit more of the wolf cubs began to trickle in. Over time, young from the other shifter clan had roamed in and out and finally, it was becoming a place where they felt safe.
Rules were established and guards placed.
It was a second home for a lot of them, and the only home some of them had.
More, it was a sa
fe place if any of them ever wanted to…talk.
Chang had purchased a tract of land that had belonged to a witch house that had decided to abandon their lands in East Orlando.
Those guys weren't precisely disappearing but their numbers weren’t exactly strong in this area either. When they’d decided to consolidate with another house in Louisiana, Chang had offered to buy the land, lock, stock and barrel.
I’d heard about it, as he’d hoped, on the fly. Mainly because Annette had plans to swoop in and take it, add it to her own territory.
But Chang had made a preemptive offer, thanks to something he’d picked up on the wind, according to what he’d told her. He owned it outright and since he hadn’t purchased it from anybody within the pack or the clan, he owed no taxes or tithes to Annette.
She couldn't come onto this property without following the rules Chang had established under the Charter’s sanctuary guidelines.
Theoretically.
That was all theoretical.
Chang had assured me that theoretical was all he needed because if Annette tried to push him, he would be happy to push back. We both knew Annette wasn't going to push when it came to Chang.
Annette would never say it, but he scared her shitless.
That was evidenced by the line of bodies that followed him.
She’d tried more than once to assassinate him, although fortunately for her, she’d never asked me.
One of her boys had hinted at it for her.
He’d been left at her door with his head in his lap.
That had been my personal message to her.
She hadn’t tried again so I assumed she’d gotten the point. I wouldn’t go after Chang—not for her, not for anybody.
She’d tried, one last time, to hire the job out.
I had shown up not long after Chang went to work on the man, cutting him up into pieces small enough to fit into an enforced garment box. He had been a few inches bigger than me and I was a big son of a bitch, standing more than six feet four, muscle through and through.
Needless to say, Chang had cut the would-be-killer down to size.
Then he wrapped his gruesome gift, had it delivered by courier to her door.
He timed his visit so that he arrived just after the courier left the box. He’d been admitted to her rooms while I hauled the box through the halls of the Lair.
She hadn’t realized somebody had jumped the gun on the kill order and let it go out already. It had, after all, specifically stated, attack after nightfall.
She was always tucked away safely inside after nightfall.
When she opened that box, a dismembered head was the first thing she saw.
"The next time you send somebody out after me,” Chang had said simply. “You had best be prepared for him to either accomplish the job or for you to join him in the next box. I tire of this, Annette. If I wanted to be Alpha, I would already be Alpha.”
With that, he’d risen from his chair and stepped over the box. “I consider this matter closed, Annette. It’s time for you to decide. We can either live together in relative peace or…you can die."
He’d nodded at me and left.
He’d made it clear several times that he’d abide by the rules of the charter, including acknowledging that she was the alpha.
But it was no secret that he was chose to acknowledge her as alpha.
He could kill her and never break a sweat.
That night, he made it clear that he was done playing by her rules.
Once we were alone, she’d looked at me.
“Don’t ask,” I’d told her, shaking my head. “You don’t want to ask that.”
I’d been prepared for her to lay into me. But she’d locked herself in her pretty pink room and I’d left.
Since then, she mostly pretended as if Chang did not exist.
I was betting on it as I made my way up the steps to the private offices where Chang spent most of his time. He wasn't in there now. I knew that even before I reached the top level but I kept on going. Somebody would let him know I was there and he would find me soon enough.
Once I was in the room, I settled down in the chair behind his desk and checked a few things on his computer. It was the only secure one that I had access to. Anything else was subject to Annette and her spies.
She had plenty of snoops who did nothing but creep around and watch her people, just looking for somebody to screw up.
I was almost finished when I heard a faint sound outside the door, followed by it opening.
Looking up, I met Chang’s gaze.
"One of these days, I will buy you a computer of your own,” he said, one brow arching.
“And it will collect dust and sit unused.” Shrugging, I finished reading the report in my email, then logged off. “My house is easy to break into, easy to spy on. This place…”
“Point taken.” He sighed and closed the door behind him. As he came closer, he unbuttoned the jacket of his slick black suit and sat down. “You’ve been out bloodying people. I smell it.”
“All in a day’s work.” I shrugged and glanced down at my shirt. I’d changed out of the one that had blood on it, but the scent was on me—my skin, my hands, in my hair.
“You smell like smoke. Did you burn something else down today or is that still from Casey’s store?”
“One of these days, you’ll tell me how you manage to have eyes everywhere.” I pointed at him as I kicked my feet up on his desk.
At his withering stare, I immediately lowered them. He was such a mother-hen at times. “Yes, because a store going up in flames a mile from here isn’t likely to be talked about,” he said dryly. “Which story do I believe? That you went crazy and tried to kill him, then burn down his store after he refused to pay you an extra tithe for your protection? Or that he had men hiding inside who tried to kill you?”
“Which do you think?” I flashed him a wide smile.
“You going crazy isn’t outside of the question.” There was a grim look in his eyes that clued me into something—Chang was pissed off. “But somehow I don’t see you running a protection racket. Perhaps I should though.”
Shit. Leaning my head back against the chair, I stared up at the ceiling. “Can we just pretend we did this, Chang?”
“One of these days she will bloody you and beat you until you snap and kill her. Since that’s the case, why not simply do it?”
“Because that’s not why we’re here,” I snapped, turning my head to glare at him. “We came here for a reason.”
“And we have accomplished nothing. We’ve looked for ten years. We’ve waited. All for nothing. There are no answers—not here or anywhere else.” He remained seated, looking calm and composed in his designer suit, straight black hair framing his face. He would have looked at home sitting at a boardroom table, could have fit in there, had he wished. Instead he was helping me.
“It was your information that led us here. Not mine.” I don’t know why I felt defensive. It wasn’t like he was saying anything I hadn’t already thought to myself a hundred times over.
“Yes. It was. And if I could locate my source and drag my information from him, I would. Sadly, he’s been…incommunicado for the past four years.” He looked away. “I suspect he finally bit off more than he could chew and ended up dead. But that doesn’t change the fact that we’re still sitting and waiting. Are we going to wait ten more years? Twenty?”
“Are there any other options?” Coming out of the chair, I paced the room, hands clenching and unclenching. “What is this? Are you ready to just give it up?”
“No.”
I turned and saw him standing just a few feet away.
Nobody could sneak up on me, save for him. Chang had taught me everything I knew about…everything. From being a predator to being something more than just a monster.
“I made you a promise and I do not break promises, ever.” He lifted a shoulder in a smooth shrug.
“As long as I live, I’ll do what I can to help you find answers. As for being here…We were told that we’d find them here—or they’d find us. If it’s your wish to wait, then we’ll wait. I have nothing left beyond this, beyond you, Damon. You know that.”
Guilt stirred and I turned away, blocking out memories of a past neither of us wanted to remember. Going to the one-way glass, I stared out. On the other side was one of the mazes, set up in a way that resembled a game, but was meant to teach the kids out there running in it.
“Do you want to leave? Try to follow one of the other leads?”
“We can’t leave without Doyle.” Shaking my head, I braced my hands on the metal frame over the glass and blew out a breath. “Speaking of which…I need you to talk to him. He’s getting close, man. And he’s so fucking angry.”
“Tell me this doesn’t surprise you.”
Turning my head, I met his eyes. He’d come to join me at the window and watched me with a look I couldn’t quite decipher. As long as I’d known him, he could still be like trying to read a book in a foreign language. “No. I guess he doesn’t.”
“You did him a kindness, taking him and being his father.”
“I’m not—”
“Do not lie to me,” Chang said, cutting me off. He shook his head and shifted his attention to the maze as well. “We both know what you are to him, and what he is to you. But for all you did for him, if you’re not willing to see it through now, it might have been kinder, in the long run, if you had let him be.”
“Don’t start in on this shit.” I shoved away from the window, restless anger burning in him. “I’m getting it from him, I’m getting it from you.”
“Should I lie to you?” Chang demanded.
The tone, one I’d obeyed without question when I was a child, now had me turning to face him. It also me clenching my teeth against the furious answer bubbling up in my throat.
“You think once he gets through his spike, he’ll be safe?” Chang slashed a hand through the air. “Why? Because he’s her blood? If anything, that makes him more of a target and don’t think she will protect him. She’ll welcome any attack on him, because if he survives it, it proves his strength—and she’ll take that as a sign of her strength. If he dies…well, she’ll just shrug it off, because he wasn’t strong enough. And he will die, Damon.”
Damon Page 3
